


Let Me Breathe

by Noctis_13



Series: Tired but Trying [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batman and Robin (Comics), DCU (Comics), Red Robin (Comics)
Genre: Angst, Batman AU, Family Feels, Gen, Hurt Tim Drake, Red Robin AU, Tim Drake Has Issues, Tim Drake-centric, batbros, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-24
Updated: 2019-08-24
Packaged: 2020-09-25 05:22:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20371378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Noctis_13/pseuds/Noctis_13
Summary: Tim has been holding his breath his entire life.





	Let Me Breathe

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own anything!
> 
> While writing this, I listened to Let Me Go by NF.

Tim has been holding his breath his entire life. 

He held his breath, while his parents left him for months on end with no hesitation whatsoever. 

He held his breath, as he saw the Flying Graysons fall to their doom. 

He held his breath when Jason died. 

He held his breath, as his mother drank poisoned water. 

He held his breath when his father was killed by Captain Boomerang. 

It was a constant cycle for Tim, to hold in his breath until his lungs struggled for air. The burning sensation and the sore throat that occurred after were old friends of his. Tim has dealt with this his entire life, and he was too far gone to stop now. 

Tim Drake faced this problem daily, but Red Robin never had to. 

Red Robin could breathe freely. Red Robin could breathe all the air he wanted. 

Tim Drake couldn’t. 

Red Robin knew his place in the world and more importantly, in the Bat-Family. 

Tim Drake didn’t. 

Maybe, that’s why Tim was always working. 

Maybe, that’s why Tim rarely went out as just himself. 

Tim Drake prefers being Red Robin over being himself because Red Robin knew who he was. 

Red Robin was everything Tim was not, and Tim hated Red Robin for that.

  
Red Robin leaped down from building to building, as he wrapped up his patrol in Gotham. 

He had just been back in Gotham for two days, and already a break out occurred. 

“Sweet old Gotham. Nothing ever changes.” 

The masked hero murmurs, while sneaking back into one of his stationed hideouts. 

Red Robin slips inside his little nest, and starts to take off his costume. 

Red Robin inhales all the air he can, greedily, as if it was his dying breath. 

Red Robin takes his mask off, and Tim Drake is let out. 

Tim’s blue eyes darken, as he stares down at his discarded costume. 

Tim then begins to hold his breath, and inside his head, he can hear Red Robin _scream_. 

**(Tim Drake wishes he could be like his superhero persona, but he knows in the deepest part of his mind, that he could never be.) **

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I am planning on making this a series, so stay tuned!


End file.
